February 9, 2016: Facebook thinks ice cream cones are too sexy

A pop art painting by Evelyne Axell used by Philadelphia’s Museum of Art to market an upcoming exhibit was removed by Facebook for containing “suggestive content.” The 1964 painting, entitled “Ice Cream,” depicts a woman licking an ice cream cone.

Mayor of Lismore, Australia Jenny Dowell decided against deleting her popular Facebook account on principle after the social media company took down an image she had posted. The image in question was of artist Deborah Kelly and subject Simone O’Brien in front of a life-sized nude photograph of Ms. O’Brien with her visible scars from cancer treatment highlighted in gold thread.

On its company blog, Twitter attempted explained its approach toward combating violent extremism, noting that “since the middle of 2015 alone, we’ve suspended over 125,000 accounts for threatening or promoting terrorist acts, primarily related to ISIS.” The Guardian reported on the company’s news.

Social media censorship is a topic being discussed across the political spectrum. Last week, conservative-leaning US news site Breitbart published a piece condemning social media giants for enabling “totalitarianism.”

Writing for student newspaper The DePaulia, authors Danielle Harris and Madeline Obrzut argue that censorship on social media platforms is sexist. Referring to the Free The Nipple movement (which argues that women should be able to be topless in spaces in which men are allowed to go without shirts), the authors state that this is not merely a social media problem, but “a societal issue.”

Onlinecensorship.org in the press

Our site was featured in CNN Money, with quotes from team members Jillian C. York and Matthew Stender.

Onlinecensorship.org seeks to encourage social media companies to operate with greater transparency and accountability toward their users as they make decisions that regulate speech. Learn more.